Fabrizio De André, the revered Italian singer/songwriter, created a deep and enduring body of work over the course of his career from the 1960s through the 1990s. With these translations I have tried to render his words into an English that reads naturally without straying too far from the Italian. The translations decipher De André's lyrics without trying to preserve rhyme schemes or to make the resulting English lyric work with the melody of the song.

"Preghiera in gennaio" was written on the occasion of the suicide of Luigi Tenco, a friend and fellow singer/songwriter. Tenco took his life after his song "Ciao amore, ciao" was rejected at the 1967 Sanremo Music Festival, an annual competition for Italian songwriters. At the time, suicide being considered a sin by the Church, a traditional Catholic funeral mass and burial were prohibited. The song itself was influenced by "Prière pour aller au paradis avec les ânes," a poem by Francis Jammes with whom De Andrè probably became familiar by way of Georges Brassens.

Luigi Tenco

May blossoms adorn
his pathway, Lord,
when to you his spirit
and to the world his skin
he'll have to hand back in,
when he comes to your heaven,
there where in broad daylight
the stars shine bright.

When he crosses
the last old bridge,
to the suicides he will say,
kissing them on the forehead,
"Come you all to Paradise,
there where I too am going,
because there's no Hell
in the world of the good Lord."

Make it so he joins You
with his tired bones,
followed by thousands
of those white faces.
Make it so he returns to You,
in contempt among the dead
who to heaven and to earth
displayed their courage.

All you right-thinking sirs,
I hope it doesn't displease you
if in heaven, in midst of the Saints,
God, in his embrace,
will hush the sob
of those pale lips
that, over hatred and ignorance,
preferred death.

God of mercy,
your beautiful Paradise
you have made, above all,
for whoever didn’t smile,
for those who lived
with a clear conscience.
Hell exists only
for those who fear it.

None better than he
can ever show you
the errors of us all,
whom you can and do want to save.

Listen to his voice
that now sings in the wind.
God of mercy,
you will see, you will be pleased.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

"Marcia nuziale" is De André's adaptation of "La marche nuptiale" by Georges Brassens, from his 1957 album Oncle Archibald. Georges Brassens was one of De André's earliest and strongest influences, offering inspiration both from his music and from his personal philosophical leanings - towards anarchism and against war and hypocrisy.

Marriages of love, marriages of necessity,
I have seen every type and every sort of person:
poor beggars and great nobles,
posturing notaries, deceitful professors.

But even if I live until the end of time,
I will always cherish the happy memory
of the poor wedding of my father and mother,
determined to make their love official at the altar.

It was on an ox cart, if one wishes to be frank,
pulled by friends and pushed by relatives
who were going to marry them, after an engagement
of so many years you could call it by then one of silver.

An original ceremony, a strange kind of party,
the gathered watched us, eyes nearly out of their heads.
We were observed by the townsfolk,
who had never seen marriages in that style.

And behold, the wind blows and carries off
the hat my father was tormenting in one hand.
And here falls the rain from an ill-tempered cloud
determined to stop the wedding at any cost.

And I'll never forget the weeping bride,
she cradled her wildflowers like a child.
And I, to console her, I with tense throat
played my harmonica like a church organ.

Shaking their bare fists, their friends all
shouted “By Jove, the wedding will go forward!”
For the people all drenched and for the vexatious gods,
the wedding proceeds.
Long live, long live the bride and the groom!

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

"Spiritual" was not a song that De André was enthusiastic about. He felt his voice was not well-suited for this type of song. It's possible that the idea with Volume I was to include in the same album various styles of music, ranging from a troubadour ballad like "Carlo Martello" to a traditional Afro-American song like this one. De André would probably not have included the song on the album, except it was needed to bring the duration of the album up to the minimum required at the time.

Lord of Heaven if you want me,
amongst the other men you might search for me.
Lord of Heaven if you search for me,
in the fields of corn you might find me.

Lord of Heaven if you want to love me,
come down from starry skies, come search for me.
O Lord of Heaven if you want to love me,
come down from starry skies, come search for me.

The keys to heaven I don’t want to steal from you,
but a moment of joy you can give to me.
The keys to heaven I don’t want to steal from you,
but a moment of joy you can give to me.

O Lord of Heaven if you want to love me,
come down from starry skies, come search for me.
O Lord of Heaven if you want to love me,
come down from starry skies, come search for me.

Without you I don’t know where to go any more,
like a blind fly that no longer knows how to fly.
Without you I don’t know where to go any more,
like a blind fly that no longer knows how to fly.

O Lord of Heaven if you want to love me,
come down from starry skies, come save me.
O Lord of Heaven if you want to love me,
come down from starry skies, come save me.

And if you bestowed on us tears and laughter,
we here on earth have not shared it.
And if you bestow on us tears and laughter,
we here on earth have not shared it.

O Lord of Heaven if you want to love me,
come down from starry skies, come search for me.
O Lord of Heaven if you want to love me,
come down from starry skies, come save me.

O Lord of Heaven if you search for me,
you will find me amongst other men.
O Lord of Heaven if you search for me,
in the fields of corn you will find me.

Lord of Heaven I will wait for you,
in Heaven and on Earth I will search for you.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

"Si chiamava Gesù" was another of De André's songs censored by Italian radio and television (RAI). Interestingly, the song was played on Vatican Radio; interesting because De André's anti-conformist concept of Christ was that he was not a deity, but rather a common man who, simply with the power of love, was able to rise above his own human-ness. To De André, Jesus as a common man was someone he could relate to and emulate, and whose teachings and example were thus far more powerful and immediate.

Coming from far, far away
to convert beasts and humans,
you can’t say it was for naught,
because he took the earth by its hand.
Dressed in sand and in white,
some said he was a saint,
for others he had less virtue -
he went by the name of Jesus.

I don’t intend to sing of the glory
nor to invoke the grace and forgiveness
of one who I think was not other than a man,
like God passed into history.
Yet inhuman, it is still forever, the love
of one whose last gasps are without ill will,
pardoning with his final voice
those who kill him in the arms of a cross.

And for those who had hated him,
in Gethsemane he wept farewell,
as for those who adored him as a God
and who said to him, "Praise be to you always,"
and for whoever brought to him as a gift at the end
a tear or a braid of thorns,
accepting at the final farewell
the prayer, the insult and the sputum.

And he died like everyone dies,
like everyone, changing color.
You can’t say it did much good,
because the evil from the land wasn't removed.
He had perhaps a few too many virtues,
he had a face and a name: Jesus.
Of Maria they say he was the son,
on the cross he turned white as a lily.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

"La canzone di Barbara" was written perhaps with the thought of it being a follow-up to the very successful "La canzone di Marinella." But the song met with little success and was never included in De André's live performances. The song was dedicated to photographer Barbara Rombi Serra, who later took the cover photo for the second edition of La buona novella.

Whoever searches for unfaithful lips
that taste like strawberry and honey,
in her they will find them -
Barbara.
In her they will kiss them -
Barbara.

She knows that every marriage bed
is made of nettle and mimosa.
For this, until another age
Barbara
will delay true love,
Barbara.

And meanwhile she plays at love,
joking with the eyes and the heart
of whoever will perhaps hate her,
Barbara,
but then will pardon her,
Barbara.

And the evening breeze invites her
to pick petals from a daisy
for every love that is gone.
She knows
another petal will bloom
for Barbara.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

"Via del Campo" is perhaps one of De André's best loved songs. Via del Campo is one of the narrow alleys of the ancient center of Genoa, close to the port. With its mix of smugglers, thieves, prostitutes and many others living on the margins of society, in sharp contrast to the upper-middle class life De André was raised in, it represented to him a way of life more honest, real and intense. De André spent much time in this part of Genoa during his university years, and he lived there for a while. The song itself was inspired by a transvestite (commonly called "una graziosa") who plied his wares as a beautiful blonde named Josèphine. In 1972, photographer Lisetta Carmi published a book on the transvestites of Genova, I travestiti. The music for the song was first described as being from the 16th century. In fact the music, shown to De André by Enzo Jannacci, was a piece Jannacci had written and already used for one of his own songs, "La mia morosa la va alla fonte." As a joke, Jannacci had presented the song to De André as one with medieval origins.

Via del Campo, there’s a young lovely
with great big leaf-colored eyes.
All night long she stands in the doorway
selling to everyone the very same rose.

Via del Campo, there’s a young girl
with lips the color of dew,
her eyes grey like the street -
flowers rise up where she walks.

Via del Campo, there’s a whore
with great big leaf-colored eyes.
If the desire to love her comes to you,
it’s enough to just take her by the hand.
And it seems like you're going far away,
she looks at you with a smile.
You didn’t believe that paradise
would be just up there on the second floor.

Via del Campo, a fool goes there
to beg her to marry,
to see her go up the stairs
until the balcony door is closed.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

"Caro amore" is based on a French song "Aranjuez mon amour" released in 1967 by Richard Anthony, itself based on a poem by Guy Bontempelli who was inspired by an episode in the Napoleonic War of 1806-1808 (specifically a scene that was painted by Goya in The Third of May 1808). The music is Joaquin Rodrigo's Concerto di Aranjuez. However, Rodrigo did not give De André permission to use the music, so "Caro amore" was replaced on the second pressing of Volume I in 1970 with "La stagione del tuo amore."

Dear love,
in the sunsets of April,
dear love,
when the sun extinguishes itself
beyond the waves,
you can hear, weeping and crying out,
even the wind and the sea.

Dear love,
a man cries this way,
dear love,
to the sun, to the wind, to his youthful years
which, singing, depart
after the morning in May
when they came
and when, barefoot
and with laughing eyes,
on the sand, contented, we wrote
the most innocent words.

Dear love,
the flowers of the other year,
dear love,
are wilted and never again
will bloom,
and in the gardens every winter
ever more sad are the leaves.

Dear love,
a man lives this way,
dear love -
the sun and the wind and the youthful years
chase each other singing
towards November to whom
they go, carrying us along,
and where one day with a sad smile
we’ll tell each other between lips by then tired,
“You were my dear love.”

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

In addition to being one of the more famous of De André's songs, "Bocca di rosa" is the one he chose when asked in an interview which of his songs he most resembled. The term "bocca di rosa" is often used to mean prostitute; regarding this song, however, De André was outspoken that the woman of the song is not a prostitute.

They called her Rosemouth,
she put love, she put love,
they called her Rosemouth,
she put love above everything else.

As soon as she got off at the station
in the small town of Saint Hilario,
everyone noticed with one look
that she was nothing to do with a missionary.

There are those who make love out of boredom,
those that choose it as a profession.
Rosemouth was neither one nor the other,
she did it for passion.

But passion often leads
to satisfying its own wants
without investigating whether a partner in lust
has a free heart, or else has a wife.

And thus it was that from one day to the next
Rosemouth brought down upon herself
the black ire of the bitches
from whom she had taken a bone.

But nosy neighbors of a hamlet
aren't shining examples of initiative.
The countermeasures up until that point
were limited to invective.

We all know that people give good advice,
feeling like Jesus in the temple.
We all know that people give good advice
if they can’t set a bad example.

Thus an older woman, never a wife,
ever childless, with no more longings,
took the trouble, and certainly with relish,
to give everyone some proper advice.

And addressing the cuckolds
she held forth to them with sharp words:
"The theft of love will be punished," she said,
"by the established order."

And they went to the commissioner
and they said, without paraphrasing:
“That despicable woman already has too many customers,
more than a food co-op.”

And four gendarmes arrived
with their plumes, with their plumes,
and four gendarmes arrived
with their plumes and with their weapons.

A tender heart is not an endowment
the carabinieri are overflowing with.
But that time, to catch the train,
they grudgingly accompanied her.

At the station there was everyone
from the commissioner to the sexton.
At the station everyone was there
with red eyes and hat in hand

to greet one who just for a moment,
without pretense, without pretense,
to greet one who just for a moment
brought love to the village.

There was a yellow sign
with a black inscription, it said:
“Farewell Rosemouth,
springtime is parting with you.”

But news that’s a bit unusual
doesn't need any newspapers.
Like an arrow shot from a bow,
it flies fast by word of mouth.

And at the next station,
many more people than when she departed -
one who throws a kiss, one who tosses a flower,
one who makes reservations for two hours.

Even the parish priest, who doesn’t condemn -
between a "have mercy" and an annointment of the sick -
the ephemeral gift of beauty,
wants her beside him in the procession.

And with the Virgin in the first row
and Rosemouth not far behind,
he takes them out for a walk through the village,
Sacred Love and Love Profane.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

"La morte" uses the music of “Le verger du roi Louis,” released in 1960 by the French singer/songwriter Georges Brassens, setting to music a 19th century poem by Théodore de Banville. The poem alludes to the "gardens of King Louis" - the parts of his forest that were reserved for those who were hanged, in "clusters never visited." De André feared death, something he spoke about on several occasions, and death is a presence in many of his songs. The opening lines of De André's lyric are quite similar to the first lines of Cesare Pavesi's 1950 poem "Death Will Come and Have Your Eyes."

Death will come suddenly,
it will have your lips and your eyes.
It will cover you in a white veil,
sleeping on your side.

In idleness, in sleep, in battle
it will come, giving you no warning.
Death goes without fail,
sounding neither horn nor drum.

Fine lady who in clear springs
refreshes her marvelous limbs,
Death will not see you face-to-face,
it will have your breast and your arms.

Prelates, notables and counts,
you cried at the door right hard.
Whoever conducted his life well
will bear poorly his death.

Tramps who without shame
wore the hair shirt or mounted the pillory -
departing was not a struggle
because Death was for you a friend.

Warrior who with the point of a lance,
from the soil of the Orient to France,
you boasted grandly of massacres,
and among the enemies, bereavement and weeping.

In front of the ultimate enemy,
neither courage nor struggle is worthwhile.
It’s no use to strike it in the heart
because Death never dies.
It’s no use to strike it in the heart
because Death never dies.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.

This song was released in 1963 as the B side of a 45 with "Il fannullone" as the A-side. The text was written by a friend from childhood, Paolo Villagio, and the music is by De André. The Battle of Poitiers occurred in 732, a battle between the Franks and the Moors in what is now northern France. The song is in the style of popular French pastourelles sung by medieval troubadours about encounters between knights and country girls. In 1965 a complaint was brought against De André and his label Karim for obscene content in the lyrics. The case was settled in De André's favor in 1968. The Italian in this song is an old style, and Riccardo Venturi has done a nice translation into a similarly "olde" style of English.

King Charles was returning from the war.
His land welcomes him,
crowning him with a laurel.

In the hot spring sun
flashes the suit of armor
of the victorious Sire.

The blood of the prince and the Moor
redden the crest,
of identical color.

But more than the wounds of the body,
Charles felt
the yearning for love.

“If eagerness for glory and a thirst for honor
extinguish war for the victor,
it allows you not a moment to pursue love.

"One, then, who imposes on the gentle wife
the chastity belt - alas it is heavy -
in battle can run the risk of losing the key.”

Thus complains the Christian king.
The grain bows down and
flowers gather about.

The mirror of the clear fountain
reflects, proud in his saddle,
the victor of the Moors.

When here in the water is formed,
marvelous vision,
the symbol of love -

in the fullness of the long blond braids
the breast intermingles,
naked in broad daylight.

“Never was seen something more beautiful,
never did I catch such a maid,”
said King Charles, dismounting quickly from his saddle.

“But oh, Knight, come no closer,
that which you seek is already the joy of another.
Quench your thirst from some easier spring.”

Surprised by a response so sharp,
feeling put down,
King Charles stopped.

But greater than honor was the power of abstinence.
Trembling, his brown helm
the King lifted off.

This was the secret weapon
by Charles often used
in dire straights -

to the woman appeared a big nose
and the face of a goat,
but it was her majesty.

“If you were not my sovereign,” -
Charles takes off his heavy sword -
“I wouldn’t conceal the desire to run far away."

"But since you are my Lord,” -
Charles frees himself from the prison of his armor -
“I must give myself over bare to every shame.”

He was indeed a valiant knight,
and even at that juncture
was covered again with honor.

And, conjoined at the end of the duel,
uncertain, the saddle
he tried to remount.

Quickly the maiden harpooned him.
Suddenly a bill
she presents to her Lord.

“Ah, just because you are my Lord,
it’s five thousand lira,
a special price.”

“It’s ever possible, son of a bitch,
that the adventures in this realm
should all end up with big whores.

"Even the price, then, can be criticized.
I remember well that before I left
there were lower prices of three thousand lira.”

Thus spoken, he acted like a scoundrel -
with the leap of a lion
he mounted his steed.

Whipping the horse as if it were a donkey,
through the wisteria and elderberries
the king disappeared.

King Charles returned from the war.
His land welcomes him,
crowning him with a laurel.

In the hot spring sun
flashes the suit of armor
of the victorious Sire.

Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.